It's Fine
by metalmonkey
Summary: Dojima gets to be a parent to Souji. Basically fluff and could be seen as Dojima/Souji.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Persona series.

Warnings: Implied slash, fluff, no spoilers, could be seen as Dojima/Souji.

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Early one evening, Dojima was enjoying the quiet time he had to read the newspaper. Nanako was currently at a sleepover, and Souji had yet to come home. Wondering if he should make something to eat, he set down the newspaper and walked to the fridge. He then remembered he wasn't exactly the best chef and was pondering over whether or not to order take out.

_Of course_, he thought, _I could wait until Souji comes home_.

At that moment, Souji walked into the house. He looked rather troubled, Dojima noticed.

"Hey," Souji greeted dryly. "Where's Nanoko?"

"At a sleepover. Do you want to order take out tonight?"

Souji looked away. "No, I'm not that hungry."

Dojima watched Souji's expressions; the boy seemed to be having a sort of conflict brewing behind those grey eyes. Dojima knew he wasn't the great in the parenting portion of his life, but his curiosity and concern got the best of him.

"Are you feeling all right? You don't look so good." Dojima said as he walked closer to Souji to get a better look at him.

Souji turned from Dojima's gaze. "I'm fine... just...tired."

Dojima knew there had to be more to Souji's overall mood and appearance than just exhaustion. Should he pry into his nephew's life and see what was truly bothering him, or was he over thinking this situation entirely? Dojima had dealt with teenagers before, but that was all work and never had a real connection with any of them. He cared for Souji.

"Are you sure nothing else is bothering you?" Dojima asked.

Souji paused for a moment. He looked at Dojima to the floor and then back at Dojima. He opened his mouth to say something to the older man.

"..."

Nothing came out. He turned from Dojima's questioning stare again. "I'm going to my room," Souji stated.

Dojima watched, unsure of what to do, as Souji ran up the steps. He heard the door of the bedroom close.

What had just happened? Dojima thought that he was getting somewhere with his nephew. Becoming a little annoyed that his efforts were being ignored, he walked up the stairs and knocked on Souji's door.

"Souji, something's obviously bothering you. You might feel better if you, you know...talk it out."

There was a brief silence and then shuffling from the other side of the door could be heard. Souji opened the door and looked Dojima straight in the eyes.

"Can we talk?" Souji said a little timidly.

_Success!_ Dojima said to himself.

"Of course we can. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

Souji nodded, looking somewhat reluctant to follow as Dojima waved at him to come back downstairs.

"So..." Dojima began. He felt like he was making some progress in this parenting business. "Talk."

Souji looked at his hands which were resting on the table. Dojima could easily see he was flustered and was going to take some more encouragement. He gave Souji a comforting smile.

At the point, Souji broke. Tears formed in his eyes, and he desperately tried to hold them back. It wasn't working well for him; he quickly hid his face behind his hands and quietly let the tears fall.

All Dojima could do was watch. He was dumbstruck. Here he was, thinking he was actually getting somewhere with Souji, and he went and made the kid cry! At a loss for what to do, he just stared at the sobbing teenager before him.

This went on for a few minutes until Dojima finally came to his senses. He decided that he could comfort Souji the same way he would Nanako in this situation. Standing up, Dojima walked to his nephew and kneeled down to be closer to his level. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Souji's torso and patted his back. He felt a bit awkward; he had never comforted a teenage boy before. He wasn't sure if he was going about it in the right way either. Would an older brother comfort his younger brother like this? Is this what brothers would do or would they simple tell the other to stop blubbering and get over it? Dojima's inner thoughts were halted as Souji let out a shaky whimper.

"Souji, you can tell me whatever's on your mind. Have you done something wrong?" Dojima began asking him several questions to see if he could get some sort of reaction out of his nephew. "Did you get into a fight with one of your friends? Did you...fail a test? Were you embarrassed at school?"

"N-no...it's nothing like that, " Souji said removing his hands from his face. The tears were still falling but not nearly as much as they had previously.

Dojima stepped out of the embrace and rested his hands on Souji's knees. He looked into Souji's blurry, red eyes. He had never thought that his nephew was ever going to cry, at least not in front of anyone. Dojima had always thought that Souji would be the one comforting another person sobbing. He then remembered that Souji was only a teenager and recalled that when he was his age, he had some difficult times too. Either way, this image of an emotionally distraught Souji was not something Dojima thought he would ever see.

"Um...let me get you something to wipe your face." Dojima said as he stood to go find a box of tissues.

He returned to Souji and handed him the box. Embarrassed, Souji took them from his uncle and cleaned himself up as well as he could.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...do that." Souji looked away in shame; he never wanted to show a weaker side of himself to anyone, especially not Dojima.

Dojima sighed and kneeled back down to Souji. He ruffled his nephew's hair a bit and grinned at him.

"Now, are you ready to talk?" Dojima asked.

Souji sighed. "...Yeah."

Keeping his position by Souji, Dojima gave him a reassuring nod.

"Well...," Souji sounding self conscious. "Uhm...wh-what do you think of...two guys...in a relationship?" He said the last bit in a whisper and looked to see Dojima's reaction.

Dojima studied Souji as he thought about how he should respond. Souji looked like he was going to burst into tears again at any given moment, regardless of the answer he would give him.

Dojima nervously started to speak. "Souji...are you-do you like...other boys?"

Souji hesitated then slowly nodded. The tears were back, and he could feel himself getting choked up again.

"Ah ah," Dojima said. "You don't need to start crying again." He put his hands on Souji's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "It's...it's absolutely fine that you like other boys. I won't judge you based on something like that, Souji." He paused for a slight moment. "You're a great boy, and whoever you decide to be with, whether they be male or female, will be very lucky."

There was a moment of silence between them until Souji suddenly threw his arms around Dojima's neck.

"Th-thank you for understanding..."

Dojima could feel a wetness seeping through his shirt. Smiling, he sighed as he embraced Souji and ran his hand up and down his back. Maybe he could be the parent he wanted to be, and this was just the beginning of his new understanding towards children.

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**Author's notes: **Hi there. I know this isn't the greatest, but I just wrote it for fun. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to review. I don't mind constructive criticism; it's always welcomed.


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